Only a Torch
by Baleful Eyes
Summary: Yuji contemplates what Shana said when they first met: he's only a torch. Was she right? He meets a young woman who changes his mind, and gives him hope. He promises her one thing in return.


_You're only a Torch_, Shana's words rang in Yuuji's ears, _and I'm only a Flame Haze_. She'd said that some time ago, and she didn't think the same way anymore, or at least he didn't think she did. It could always get him thinking. About how he was a Torch, and how the real Yuuji Sakai was dead.

"I'm only a Torch," he thought aloud, not quite sure whether or not the words he spoke were true. He'd been taking a stroll, thinking about everything that had happened to him.

"You're a Torch?" It was a woman's voice that had asked this.

Yuuji looked up to see a twenty-something year old woman looking at him. She had short, black hair and piecing, dark green eyes. Hesitantly, Yuuji nodded.

"Me too, I guess," the woman replied. "Some man, he told me he was a Flame… something."

"A Flame Haze?" Yuuji proposed.

A soft, warm smile spread across the woman's face. "Yeah, that's it, a Flame Haze," said the woman. "Anyway, he'd told me about Torches and everything, because I'd kept bugging him, since I knew there was something going on. He'd told me I was a Torch."

"What did you do?" asked Yuuji, somewhat intrigued by the woman.

"I came to my hometown, to visit my parents," she explained, "but they hardly paid any attention to me. They hardly noticed that I was there. Soon they're going to forget I ever existed… so I cried a bit, and then came here."

"Oh," said Yuuji. That's all he could say. He looked carefully at the woman, and saw a faint flame within her. She was indeed a Torch, and she didn't have much longer.

"You said you were only a Torch," the woman pointed out.

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "A Flame Haze once told me that. She said that I was only a Torch, and that she was only a Flame Haze.

"But you could say that about anything," said the woman. "Only a Torch, only a Flame Haze, only a Denizen. It doesn't matter. You're only as much as you make yourself out to be."

Yuuji stared at the woman, his eyes wide in wonder. "Who are you anyway?" Yuuji asked.

"Oh, sorry," said the woman, a faint blush on her cheeks. "My name's Haruka Yamamoto. What about you?"

"Yuuji Sakai," the boy replied.

Haruka stared at the sky, and whispered, "I'm going to fade."

She forced a smile on her face, and stepped forward, saying, "Yuuji, can you do me a favor?"

"S-sure," he stuttered, beginning to feel uncomfortable as the space between the two of them lessened.

She stopped walking, merely a few inches in front of his face, making his cheeks hot. No doubt Shana would have killed him had she been there.

Haruka grabbed his hand, and looked into his eyes, her own beginning to water.

"Don't let me be forgotten." As she whispered this, a single tear was shed, and fell upon Yuuji's hand.

The woman, Haruka Yamamoto, then faded from existence. The tear that had never been shed was not on Yuuji's hand. And despite all this, she had existed, Yuuji knew it.

"Yuuji, there you are!" a voice exclaimed. Yuuji turned around to see Shana rushing up to him. "I've looked everywhere for you. Where have you been?"

"Taking a walk," Yuuji replied, a smile spreading across his face. "What, were you worried about me?"

Shana blushed a bright shade of red, and as usual, shouted, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Yuuji smiled at the familiar jester, and the two walked off.

"Hey Shana," said Yuuji.

"What is it?" asked the girl, now having calmed down.

"You're not just a Flame Haze," Yuuji said.

Shana blushed, not quite sure how to react to such a comment.

"I-I guess you're not just a Torch," she muttered, just loud enough for her companion to hear.

"Hey, wanna go get some melon bread?" Yuuji suggested.

This immediately got the attention of the young Flame Haze.

"Melon bread?" she repeated, her eyes sparkling. "Sure!" she ran full speed ahead, off to the nearest food stand, followed but Yuuji, who was nagging her to slow down.

Though he had a smile on as he chased after her.

_You're only as much as you make yourself out to be._ These were the words that now rang in young Yuuji Sakai's head, and he would keep them with him. He would be more than a Torch.

And even though Haruka Yamamoto's flame had died out, he would make sure her memory lived on.


End file.
